In the summer of 1996, professional road race cyclist Lance Armstrong, then 24, was a strong contender for the Tour de France and for events in the Olympics. As lead rider of Team Motorola, he had raced a tremendous early season, posting breakthrough victories on the European circuit, had won the Tour DuPont and had battled his way to fifth in international rankings. He was an aggressive young athlete in top form.

The six competitors sat poised on their vehicles on the parking garage roof of Kaiser Permanente Medical Center on Friday, intent on crossing the finish line first. They were a motley bunch, one dressed in surgical scrubs, another with a necktie wrapped around his head and still another with a sign proclaiming "Zero to 50 mph in 10 years." As the horn sounded the start of the medical center's first Kaiser 500, Edward "Fast Eddie" Browning took an early lead and never let up.

Early Saturday morning the first of more than 800 bicyclists will pedal out of the Irvine Transportation Center headed for San Diego. The ride is nearly 100 miles, so many won't want to waste time heading south--after all, they have a train to catch. That would be a private Amtrak charter that makes the ride back quite a bit more comfortable. And if a marathon bicycle ride can't be made entirely comfortable, the Amtrak Century aims to come close.

The Tour de France begins today with defending champion Bjarne Riis facing a potential challenge from his own Telekom teammate, Jan Ullrich. Riis, of Denmark, finished first and Ullrich, of Germany, finished second last year. Since Riis is the team leader, his teammates--including Ullrich--are expected to work for him with the overall victory important. "Ullrich is not an opponent," Riis said. "He is a teammate. We will ride together and try to win."

Let them say what they want to about the old man out racing bicycles with kids half his age. Turbo says he feels good about it. Harry "Turbo" Leary, a former champion Bicycle Motocross rider a decade ago, is making a comeback. In a sport populated mostly by 12- and 14-year-olds, Leary is showing up at the local BMX tracks, pumping his pedals, flying over jumps, bumping and elbowing for position with teenagers, just as he did 20 years ago.

It's been one week since a new BMX track opened in Ventura, and it's already had a tremendous effect on the youngsters who hang out at Ray's Bicycle Shop. "More than half of these kids have not been out on a track before. Now they can't wait to get over there," said Ray Schultz, owner of the shop on East Telephone Road. "Now that the track is open, they can't get enough. They crash and they get bruised, and they get out there and do it again."

It's hard to forget the sight of cyclist Alexi Grewal, his arms in the air, beating Canada's Steve Bauer to the finish line for the gold medal in the 1984 Olympic road race here. And it's hard to believe that in the last 13 years, Grewal, who is from Colorado, has never been back. Grewal will return to the site of that memorable race Sunday, when he will act as honorary chairman for the inaugural Tour D'Olympiad. "I wouldn't miss the event for the world," Grewal said.

Cycling star Lance Armstrong had a cancerous testicle removed last week and has begun chemotherapy to combat the disease that already has spread to his stomach. "I'm entering this battle in the best shape of my life," he said Tuesday. "I want to stay in shape. As soon as the wounds heal, I want to be back on the bike." Armstrong, 25, is the country's top road cyclist. He is the 1993 world road race cycling champion, a two-time Tour de France stage winner and two-time Tour DuPont titlist.